what effects will changing ship drafts have?

[Webster]

i made some changes to some ship sim files to correct the draft heights in the game but i was wondering, other than changing the visual draft height, if that will have any effect on how the ship acts in the game?

things like speed, turning, stopping and starting, sinking properties

what i did:
i changed the draughtsurfaced number to the same number specified in the ships cfg file and if the ship showed a draughtsubmerged number (usually warships) i left it alone because i figured it was probably the correct number it should be set at. if i found a draughtsubmerged number was zero (usually merchants) then i made it 2 meters below the draughtsurfaced number as someone recommended i do.

while im busy making the ships sit in the water at the right height, i dont want to inadvertantly be messing up how they act in the game.

EDIT: i was mistaken about a ship having the submerged draft set at zero, looking back at my work i must have read the displacement line instead.

[Nisgeis]

I can't remember for sure, but I think the draft value affects the position the 3d damage models are loaded to. Just check that if you damage a ship with gunfire or torpedoes, so that the 3d damage model is loaded, that it's displayed in the right place.

[Vorkapitan]

I also thought that it may change the periscope depth....not positive though.

[Webster]

I also thought that it may change the periscope depth....not positive though.

yes if you change the subs draft it changes the periscope height along with it so the game compensates for it but things like missions with preset starting depths will be off because they were unchanged. in the game if you click periscope depth it goes to the new periscope depth so the only thing needing to be changed is the mission start depths. since subs are mostly submerged already IMO it doesnt effect the way they respond.

the only thing i wasnt sure of is when your talking about surface ships, of you make changes to a ships submerged drafts, will it also be automatically compensated for or will it change how the ship acts until you manually change drag and such?

[Madox58]

The damage model follows the 3D model itself.
So it will not be 'off' if you lower or raise draft.
However!
If a zone is set to 'activate' if underwater,
and you lower the unit enuff?
You may see oil leaking or the unit starts sinking.

It's rare this would happen if you don't go overboard on lowering a unit.

The 'motions' of the unit in seas will be affected a bit.
Again depending on how much of a change you make.
To get a unit to really sway in sea?
Raise the center of gravity.
The higher it is the more the ship will react to heavy seas.
The lower it is, the less the ship will react.

To see what I mean try this.
Take a Concret block and hold it over your head.
Walk across a 2x4.
Now hold the same block, waist high and walk the same 2x4.
Which is easier?
:lol:

[Webster]

The damage model follows the 3D model itself.
So it will not be 'off' if you lower or raise draft.
However!
If a zone is set to 'activate' if underwater,
and you lower the unit enuff?
You may see oil leaking or the unit starts sinking.

It's rare this would happen if you don't go overboard on lowering a unit.

:lol:

well what im doing is i found about a dozen ships in the game that are not at the waterline so i will raise or lower each about 1/2 meter to a meter to correct this.

minor change but sometimes minor changes can have big side effects so i wanted to check with experienced modders.

i dont have the experience to test or even know how to test to tell how much of a change might occur.

some merchants show zero surface draft and zero submerged draft in the zon files so im not sure why.

if they didnt have the correct numbers in the first place, was it because of "issues" or just an oversight?

[Madox58]

The draught settings are in the sim files and cfg files.
Not the zone files.

Both the sim and cfg draught should match or you run the chance of the sinking ship bug in various forums.

[Webster]

The draught settings are in the sim files and cfg files.
Not the zone files.

Both the sim and cfg draught should match or you run the chance of the sinking ship bug in various forums.

ya i was doing hit points and got mixed up lol.

anyway the game as it comes from ubisoft has ships with zero surfaced and zero submerged drafts so im correcting what i found im not wanting to put them at zero.